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Itemized: Roberto Piqueras Temporary Tattoos

Every week a different FADER staff member will pick a clothing item or accessory that he or she has lately been spending a lot of time with—or would like to—and write a little love letter to it. We would’ve done a column on who we’re dating but that seemed a little bit much. This week Amber talks about her Roberto Piqueras’ temporary tattoos.

Full Disclaimer: I have a real tattoo. I got it when I was 17—literally left my high school graduation party to go to a New Hampshire tattoo parlor with a group of my friends (the state motto isn't "live free or die" for nothing!). I'm young for my year, so I just slipped in the chair last, and nobody asked to see my ID. My parents didn't care either (I remember them giving me a kiss and a hug when I left, their good time seemingly undeterred by my absence). They've always been admirably hands-off when it comes to this kind of thing, but in all honesty, I wouldn't have minded a firmer hand in this case. It's not to say that I'm mortified by my tattoo, it's a benign flourish on my foot that I don't really think too much about. Maybe I was too petrified by the underage thing to really consider the design. After college, I moved to San Francisco, which is pretty much the young-person's gauntlet when it comes to inking your body to oblivion. You have to decide: "Am I a tattoo person, or aren't I?" I wrestled with the idea for a long time, imaging a broad swath of my back covered with an elaborately rendered fox (my totem animal) or a sleeve of flowers, each chosen for their Victorian symbolism, shit like this could keep me occupied for days. In the end, I decided it wasn't for me. To have my single foot flourish serves well enough as my own personal madeleine of a time lost. I still love tattoos, though, at least on other people, and part of me will forever be someone who could've become a tattoo person. Which is why Roberto Piqueras’ temporary gem tattoos were so exciting for me—all the models with their big diamond face tattoos, stamped directly between their brows (or 3rd-eye chakra, depending on your world view). In my mind I want to have a prism in between my eyebrows like 25% of the time, and here was my chance! But, since I'm not a model, nor did I have a stylist to apply my tat bling (as we all know they may be temporary, but soaking the back of those things and pulling off the paper smoothly is hard!), I opted instead for the the more discreet, underside of wrist to wild out with my gem motif. I did a four point, father son holy ghost-type of motif, consisting of two diamonds a sapphire and an emerald. It's an alright design, I guess, but I'm not mad it'll be off my body in five days. It also reminds me of tattoos' fatal flaw, at least in my book: they don't glitter.